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- 14
I started watching this the other night on the iPlayer, I was bored and wasn't expecting too much from it. I find Murphy's shows to be either brilliant or absolute shite. There is very little middle ground. I had read a bit about the show, and knew of its premise. I have also watched Paris Is Burning a few times, know all about Madonna's Vogue dancers and their roots. I also know personally some Trans women, and of their struggle now, even in this more accepting time. With that I really didn't expect much from POSE. I expected it to be a smiley happy Glee thing with cloying musical numbers and big time dance offs.
I was very wrong. What I got with POSE was much more. It was the brilliance of early AHS before it all became a too camp ridiculous mess. Without the blatant horror of course. The are also flashes of the Angels In America mini series too. Both shows dealing with some of the same themes and times. What POSE has, that I didn't expect it to have is a lot of heart. I was instantly invested in the character of Blanca and her aspirations and struggles. There are themes in the show that I identify with, as a gay man. That idea of picking a family, outside of your biological one. That connection you find with people from different places, and different areas of life who share a commonality with you. Who know who you are and recognise that and accept before some of your real family ever do.
Set amidst the unfolding of the AIDS epidemic of the mid 1980s, a time of towering aspirations and greed and Trump's golden tower. We see this underground world, these people doing what they can to survive. Outsiders, homeless people, freaks, who have no place in this shiny '80s American dream. No place except at the Balls. Then they create and become and belong and have a reason to get up and keep going. The competition is fierce and so are the looks. And despite this Gay Plague that is picking them off one by one, killing and ruining and destroying. Somehow these characters all keep going, keep standing up for themselves. It's equally sad and uplifting.
POSE is also beautifully shot, it feels epic, with lots of wide shots and pans of New York city. And not just any New York city. It's the New York of the mid '80s and it's pulled off quite wonderfully. The twin towers of The World Trade Centre standing like beacons in the background of some beautiful shots. The show looks right. The streets, the cars, the interiors, the clothes. And then the music, which is perfectly done. So many of my favourite songs have been used to great effect. From Shannon's Let The Music Play to Brian Ferry's Slave to Love. All done in wonderful ways.
In parts it looks like a Scorcese film, in parts in an homage to classic New York music videos. A few of Madonna's early works come to mind.
I ended up watching 3 episodes in one sitting and then finishing off the other 5 the next day. It was that good. That addictive and I am glad that it's been renewed for a second season.
I was very wrong. What I got with POSE was much more. It was the brilliance of early AHS before it all became a too camp ridiculous mess. Without the blatant horror of course. The are also flashes of the Angels In America mini series too. Both shows dealing with some of the same themes and times. What POSE has, that I didn't expect it to have is a lot of heart. I was instantly invested in the character of Blanca and her aspirations and struggles. There are themes in the show that I identify with, as a gay man. That idea of picking a family, outside of your biological one. That connection you find with people from different places, and different areas of life who share a commonality with you. Who know who you are and recognise that and accept before some of your real family ever do.
Set amidst the unfolding of the AIDS epidemic of the mid 1980s, a time of towering aspirations and greed and Trump's golden tower. We see this underground world, these people doing what they can to survive. Outsiders, homeless people, freaks, who have no place in this shiny '80s American dream. No place except at the Balls. Then they create and become and belong and have a reason to get up and keep going. The competition is fierce and so are the looks. And despite this Gay Plague that is picking them off one by one, killing and ruining and destroying. Somehow these characters all keep going, keep standing up for themselves. It's equally sad and uplifting.
POSE is also beautifully shot, it feels epic, with lots of wide shots and pans of New York city. And not just any New York city. It's the New York of the mid '80s and it's pulled off quite wonderfully. The twin towers of The World Trade Centre standing like beacons in the background of some beautiful shots. The show looks right. The streets, the cars, the interiors, the clothes. And then the music, which is perfectly done. So many of my favourite songs have been used to great effect. From Shannon's Let The Music Play to Brian Ferry's Slave to Love. All done in wonderful ways.
In parts it looks like a Scorcese film, in parts in an homage to classic New York music videos. A few of Madonna's early works come to mind.
I ended up watching 3 episodes in one sitting and then finishing off the other 5 the next day. It was that good. That addictive and I am glad that it's been renewed for a second season.
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